Two characteristics of this government are that it regularly overreaches and that where possible it shies away from transparency and accountability. Very different issues in the news this week highlight…

The government incentivises workers to relocate for a job, but is it incentivising the right workers?
Faisal Akram/FlickrJuly 29, 2014

As a policy response to unemployment and structural change, incentives for workers to relocate in search of work have been pushing higher up the policy agenda. This has been the trend since the World Bank’s…

Anyone who imagines most job seekers have it easy probably hasn’t been out of work recently.
Flickr/Florian SimethJuly 28, 2014

It turns out that the policies for under 30s in the federal budget in May were a precursor to a much wider set of changes affecting unemployed people across the board. These are just now coming to light…

The B20 business leaders meeting this week in advance of November’s G20 summit play an important role in advising on what to do about those intractable global issues of economic growth and job creation…

While social services minister Kevin Andrews focuses on welfare spending data, there is precious little evidence for the efficacy of his policy approach.
AAP/Alan PorrittJuly 8, 2014

The prime object of welfare reform should be to increase the well-being of people rather to reduce public expenditure. Good policy should be able to achieve both goals over the longer term. Too many current…

The probability of receiving a work for the dole pilot is much higher in non-marginal electorates, regardless of the level of actual youth unemployment.
AAP/Julian SmithJune 26, 2014

In July, the federal government will begin a series of pilot programs for its work for the dole scheme across Australia. All job seekers aged 18 to 30 who have been unemployed for more than a year and…

More than one-third of unemployed people are aged 15 to 24, a critical period in their lives.
luxorphoto/ShutterstockJune 19, 2014

Australia came out of the global financial crisis better than most industrialised countries, but did not escape altogether. With a weaker economy, the unemployment rate rose from about 4% to 6% between…

While Australia takes centre stage as this year’s G20 host, some of Joe Hockey’s budget policies are on the group’s ideological fringes.
AAP/Daniel MunozJune 13, 2014

Australia is hosting the G20 this year and showcasing to the world its approach to welfare policy: deny young people income support for up to six months and instead make more food vouchers available. This…

Policy measures have failed to understand why unemployed and disaffected youth are the way they are.
ShutterstockMay 14, 2014

The 2014 federal budget implemented a so-called crackdown on what Minister for Social Services Kevin Andrews calls young people who are content to “sit on the couch at home and pick up a welfare cheque…

Treasurer Joe Hockey warned Australians that ‘the age of entitlement is over’ – a promise that certainly came true for young Australians in the federal budget.
AAP/Lukas CochMay 14, 2014

The 2014-15 federal budget continues the deconstruction of Australia’s post-war welfare state. In fact, the budget takes it a step further, particularly for the young. People under the age of 30 will now…

The government plans to re-introduce work for the dole, but does it work?
ShutterstockJanuary 30, 2014

The Work for the Dole program could again become a core element of welfare policy for the unemployed in Australia, but there is a considerable body of evidence which shows it is unlikely to help people…

Social services minister Kevin Andrews has targeted the Disability Support Pension and Newstart, the main payment for the unemployed, for reform, branding the current level of welfare as unsustainable…

Single parents’ protests last year at being transferred to Newstart were ignored, and the evidence suggests the move made it harder to get suitable work to support their families.
AAP/Paul MillerJanuary 23, 2014

The major missing factor in debates on cutting welfare spending – as has been flagged by social services minister Kevin Andrews – is the limited and falling demand for labour. Labour market figures give…

Tony Abbott is pitching to the longterm unemployed in his new initiative.
AAP/Alan PorrittAugust 26, 2013

Why do we have welfare policies that create unnecessary poverty? Despite a multitude of reports, submissions, public pleas and other advocacy on the problems of Newstart (NSA) recipients, the government…

For the majority of Newstart Allowance recipients, payments barely cover the cost of rent - let alone other living expenses.
AAPApril 19, 2012

Despite ongoing uncertainty about global economic conditions, prosperity in Australia remains both very high and relatively widespread. But there is one group in Australia who has not shared in our rising…